Protocols such as Near, Tron, Avalanche, Solana, Polkadot and Cardano are adopting new approaches to improve the balance between scalability, decentralisation and security. Bank of America analysts arrived at these conclusions, according to CoinDesk.
Analysts noted that the third-generation networks cited may attract developers at least in the near term. In the longer run, identifying the winners and losers appears uncertain, they added.
“Going forward, market share will be increased by blockchains that prioritise usability and effective go-to-market. This will occur through the formation of a diverse ecosystem of dapps, which promotes the popularisation of cryptocurrencies, and also generates network effects and cash flows”, according to the report.
In particular, Near’s sharding technology “softens the common scaling problems.” Developers have focused on usability, an innovative architecture and ecosystem development, but progress has recently stalled.
“Transaction fees have fallen since the first quarter of last year, and the number of new accounts has risen since Q2. This suggests that Near’s dapps are no longer driving accelerating user growth,” according to the document.
Near’s rivals are betting on boosting throughput. Yet what unites them is software immaturity and the early stage of development of these technologies, experts said.
In March 2023, the Near Protocol team introduced a Blockchain Operation System, which is positioned as an “operating system for blockchains”.